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3232Schools Are Going Solar For Education and Cost Savingshttp://arp-solar.com/uncategorized/schools-go-solar/
Mon, 21 May 2018 17:08:15 +0000http://arp-solar.com/?p=241A 2017 report by The Solar Foundation, SEIA and Generation 180 found the number of K-12 schools with solar has doubled since 2014. Brighter Future: A Study on Solar in U.S. Schools, discovered schools are going solar for a number of reasons. For one, the falling cost of components (minus panels for now) and high price of electricity in some states makes it financially viable.

Solar on schools also presents an educational opportunity. Schools can incorporate solar into the curriculum and teach students about job prospects in the solar industry.

“We started a solar schools campaign because we recognize that schools are really the heart of the community,” said Tish Tablan, national organizer for Generation 180. “Through schools, you can educate the next generation and make sure that clean energy is a part of their future.”

The environmental and health benefits of solar also motivate schools to go solar. Schools can help contribute to state- or city-wide RPS standards, or can set clean energy goals for themselves.

Solar-powered schools with battery backup can also act as emergency shelters during natural disasters. One such school is Susan E. Wagner High School in Staten Island, according to the report. During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the school was used as a shelter with diesel generators. Its new solar+storage system provides a sustainable, green alternative to generators for the next big storm.

Schools require lots of power to charge computers, keep the lights on and keep children learning without interruption. Adding solar on school roofs creates not only a teachable moment, but more electric dependability—especially when storage is involved.

source: Solar Power World

]]>Law Firm Installs Solar Panels to Help Low-Income People Savehttp://arp-solar.com/uncategorized/law-firm-installs-solar-helps-people/
Mon, 14 May 2018 12:57:11 +0000http://arp-solar.com/?p=237How a D.C. law firm installed solar panels to help low-income people save on utilities

Ninety-three million miles from Earth is the Sun — the source of all life, shining for the benefit of everyone. Only in the District does it take a labyrinthine bureaucracy and an army of lawyers to make it pay.

Jeff Lesk and Herb Stevens, of the law firm Nixon Peabody, decided to install solar panels on the firm’s office in the Chinatown neighborhood and to make them benefit the city’s most vulnerable residents. Using their legal superpowers, they succeeded.

And they can even explain the complex process simply.

“We just produce the energy here, Pepco turns it into dollars, and we send them to Southeast and Southwest Washington,” Stevens said.

Complex solar regulations and incentives made the plan possible. D.C. residents with solar panels can sell energy credits to utilities such as Pepco, which must produce 1 percent of its energy from solar sources. Solar credits generated in one part of the city can be sent to another.

A company seeking federal tax credits fronted Nixon Peabody money to build a 182-kilowatt system, about the amount of energy needed to power 30 homes. The law firm also got a grant from the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment and formed a nonprofit to run the program, which plans to add additional panels on other buildings.

The firm will offer solar credits to two other apartment complexes, but it hasn’t announced the locations. This second phase is expected to benefit about 300 residents.

It’s a bureaucratic Rube Goldberg machine that demands more paperwork than photosynthesis, but is workable nonetheless.

“Our model hasn’t been used before,” Lesk said. “We’re donating those energy credits to people who need them.”

The credits help Pepco customers pay to keep the lights on at Copeland Manor, a community a few blocks south of the Benning Road Metro station in Southeast Washington. Edna Wimberly, 71, who has lived in the complex for nine years, pays $700 a month in rent and lives on a fixed income.

After she filled out a form and gave it to her building’s manager — providing her Pepco account number so the credits could be routed to her account — her bill started going down. Once as high as $50, it is now sometimes paid in full.

“It helps me out a lot — an awful lot,” said Wimberly, a former nursing assistant at Washington’s VA Medical Center. “Through God, it all works out.”

Elizabeth Askew Everhart, senior development manager at Mission First Housing Group, a nonprofit D.C. housing developer, said the program was “initially a little bit confusing for all of us,” but there was no downside to participating. The nonprofit connected Nixon Peabody to Trinity Plaza, a 49-unit development off Interstate 295 in Southwest.

Residents at Trinity earn less than 60 percent of the D.C. area’s median income, so even a small break on an electric bill is noticeable. But installing solar panels at Trinity would be expensive and, depending on the condition of the buildings’ roofs and storm water runoff rules, nearly impossible.

Nixon Peabody was better positioned to take the lead.

“It certainly adds up over the course of a year to have meaningful impact,” Everhart said. “It’s almost like getting $20 off rent every month.”

The law firm’s plan isn’t the only one bringing the benefits of solar to those without panels. Another nonprofit group began installing solar panels on the homes of up to 100 low-income D.C. residents last year . Meanwhile, the District’s energy and environment department has awarded grants for solar panel installation on churches and over surface parking lots under a program called Solar for All.

Dennis Brown, a green energy consultant at Pepco, said the Nixon Peabody project is a blueprint for similar projects in the pipeline.

“They’re the first to do this in the District,” he said.

[Even under pro-coal President Trump, U.S. solar is doing pretty well]

Dan Reicher, a Stanford University law professor who specializes in energy policy and finance, said he had D.C.’s first legally connected solar-panel system at his home in the Chevy Chase neighborhood in the 1990s. This was uncharted territory: Connecting the system to the electric grid, now a common home improvement, proved difficult and the panels, which were installed incorrectly, collapsed under the weight of snow.

Reicher, a former assistant secretary of energy during the Clinton administration, said “there are some creative things going on” when governments find ways for people who don’t have solar panels to benefit from them.

“If you separate the physical system from the benefits, they can be shared,” he said.

Stevens recalled looking at a map of D.C.’s solar installations at a conference five years ago. Most were in the city’s more affluent areas. A natural resource shouldn’t be reserved for those with means, he said.

“The sun is so obviously one that we all share,” Stevens said. “It isn’t ever just shining on one area of town. It’s a resource we should all acknowledge we’re sharing with each other.”

American Solar Challenge 2018, A Challenging Race Route and New Regulations

Whether you are a current member on a solar car team, an alumni of a team, or just interested in solar car racing, you’ve probably heard some details about the upcoming 2018 American Solar Challenge race route.

The race will begin in Omaha, Nebraska and finish ~1,780 miles (2,864 meters) later in Bend, Oregon, somewhat following the Oregon Trail.
The route was chosen by ASC officials in-part due to the drier climate that these western states provide, since most of the 2016 American Solar Challenge was troubled with rain and clouds.

This route will go through some stunning scenery, but will not be an easy race.

With the new regulations, solar cars are limited to four square meters of silicon array. That’s two square meters less than the 2016 American Solar Challenge. Teams are allowed to use a supplementary array (up to 2 extra square meters of silicon), this is only during the charging events, not while driving.

However, the largest challenge in this route has been dubbed “The Big Climb” as teams will have to push their cars to the limits as an elevation change of ~3,000 feet (~915 meters) happens in about 30 miles (~48 kilometers) during the start of the third stage.

Elevation data for the third stage

As for the entire race, the chart below shows the total elevation change from Omaha to Bend, which is around 3,280 feet (~1,000 meters).

Elevation data for all of ASC 2018

For mileage, teams are looking at:

Stage 1: 492.6 miles (~792 kilometers)

Stage 2: 355.3 miles (~571 kilometers)

Stage 3: 395.7 miles (~636 kilometers)

Stage 4: 395.0 miles (~636 kilometers)

Stage 5: 136.1 miles (~218 kilometers)

And finally, a complete map of the 2018 American Solar Challenge race route:

Event Schedule

With a slightly longer runtime than that of previous events, the 2018 challenge will take place during the following:

July 6th – 9th — Scrutineering

July 10th – 12th — Formula Sun Grand Prix

July 13th — Display and Multi-Occupant Practicality Judging

July 14th – 22nd — American Solar Challenge

source: Missouri S&T Solar Car Team

]]>There is HUGE Potential of Saving with Rooftop Solar Power In The U.S.http://arp-solar.com/uncategorized/there-is-huge-potential-of-saving-with-rooftop-solar-power-in-the-u-s/
Mon, 30 Apr 2018 13:46:14 +0000http://arp-solar.com/?p=224If you have ever wondered how much of the electricity demand in the U.S. could be supplied by rooftop solar, a new study has the answer.

Earlier this month the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released the report Rooftop Solar Technical Potential for Low-to-Moderate Income Households in the United States.

As the name indicates, the study was primarily aimed at the solar photovoltaic (PV) potential on households with low-to-moderate income (LMI) levels (defined as those earning 80% or less of the area median income). Rooftop solar PV to date has been adopted primarily among higher-income households, but declining costs of solar PV are expanding the potential for solar outside of this demographic.

The study utilized light detection and ranging (LiDAR)–based scans of buildings as well as statistical techniques to estimate rooftop solar PV potential. The study found that of the 116.9 million residential buildings in the U.S., there are 67.2 million buildings (57% of the total) suitable for solar PV. Total generation potential was nearly 1,000 terawatt-hour (TWh), which is about 75% of residential consumption (although not necessarily without economical power storage options).

The potential for rooftop solar PV is primarily a function of the orientation of the building/roof. In cold climates, buildings are often orientated to maximize incoming solar radiation. In hotter climates, buildings and associated landscaping are frequently situated to avoid incoming solar radiation. This explains why some counties of Alaska and Montana have a higher percentage of potential LMI rooftops than counties in Arizona:

However, the southwest has much higher incoming solar radiation than Alaska, which means that despite the lower percentage of applicable LMI buildings, more than 100% of LMI electrical consumption could be offset by LMI buildings (which include schools and places of worship):

The NREL study had been inspired by a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technology Office announcement that the falling cost of solar energy could result in 971 GW of solar capacity nationwide, providing 33% of electrical generation by 2050. (For reference, current U.S. installed solar PV capacity is 50 GW).

The NREL study determined that the 33% target is easily technically viable among current LMI households. However, it is important to note that the study did not estimate economic viability.

In order to achieve economic viability, the report suggests the deployment of models other than those commonly found today. The report concluded that coordination issues inherent to rental-occupied and multi-family buildings must be addressed, and models must ensure that rental-property owners are incentivized to install solar on their buildings.

source: Forbes

]]>The Happiest Place on Earth is going Solarhttp://arp-solar.com/uncategorized/the-happiest-place-on-earth-is-going-solar/
Tue, 24 Apr 2018 19:26:16 +0000http://arp-solar.com/?p=220Walt Disney World has recently started a new initiative in collaboration with the Reedy Creek Improvement District and solar project developer Origis Energy USA to bring a new, 270-acre, 50-megawatt solar facility online by the end of 2018.

This solar facility will generate enough renewable clean energy to power two of the four theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort. The facility will include half a million solar panels, and will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 57,000 tons per year, the equivalent of removing 9,300 cars from the roads.

This initiative will join the many other efforts that The Walt Disney Company has launched to accomplish its 2020 goal of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent in comparison to 2012.

The new facility will be located near Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and construction is set to begin in the next few months. Origis Energy delivered the first of many solar panels to come as part of the project just last week.

Walt Disney World recently unveiled a five-megawatt solar facility near Epcot that was developed with the Reedy Creek Improvement District and Duke Energy. During the hours when the sun is shining at its brightest, these two facilities together will generate enough clean energy to provide up to 25 percent of the power needs at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Cast Members from Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment and Horticulture teams will help and explore ways to make this new solar facility pollinator friendly with wildflowers and vegetation, in order to create a safe habitat for bees, butterflies and other insects, including endangered and at-risk species.

Are your kids asking questions about solar energy? Solar energy is something all kids should understand. After all, they can’t really miss it – it’s all around us!

You might be surprised how much your kids already know about solar energy. Maybe they’ve spotted solar panels on their friend’s roof or have heard about it in the news.

But do they know enough to make the right energy choices when they grow up?

Here are seven facts about solar energy for kids:

1. Where does solar energy come from?

Solar energy comes from the sun. The sun is incredibly powerful, and scientists have worked out how to convert the sunlight into electricity.

2. What is a renewable energy?

Solar power is a renewable energy, which means it won’t run out. The sun will keep going and going and going!

Oil and coal (known as fossil fuels) are non-renewable and will eventually run out.

3. Who invented solar power technology?

The invention of solar power technology was way back in 1839 by Alexandre Edmond Becquerel. The Frenchman was aged just 19 when he discovered that “shining sunlight onto an electrode submerged in a conductive solution could create an electric current”.

Sounds complicated? This is simply the “photovoltaic” effect used by solar panels today. “Photo” simply means light and “voltaic” means electricity – or “PV” for short.

4. How do solar panels work?

We need to use a little bit of science to answer this one.

When sunlight, or more specifically the photons in the sunlight, hits the material in a solar panel, it causes the silicon and conductors to become ‘excited’ and absorb the photons.

This converts the sunlight into solar power. Another piece of technology, called a solar inverter, then turns this into electricity you can use around the home.

5. How do we use solar energy?

Lots of people use solar panels to generate electricity for their homes. That’s why you can see solar panels on the rooftops of people’s homes.

Houses are not the only things that run on solar power. For example, many big traffic signs you see along the highway are powered by big solar panels. Calculators and spacecraft use solar panels too. Look around and you’ll be surprised at all the things that use solar power!

6. Who is the biggest solar energy producer in the world?

At the moment, Germany is the leader in generating massive amounts of solar energy from solar panels.

Though China is catching up fast with plans to install more and more solar panels around the country.

7. Where is the largest solar power plant in the world?

Some of the biggest solar farms in the world are in the United States – the biggest is in the Mojave Desert.

Homeowners and utilities alike are choosing solar energy at a faster rate than ever before in the United States. The explosive growth of solar power is partly a result of the falling cost of solar panels. Rebates and incentives have also contributed to the United States’ biggest year ever for solar. But decreasing costs are only one of the many benefits of solar energy. You can also improve your health and protect the environment by reducing your reliance on fossil fuels and installing a solar energy system at your home or business. Interested in solar but can’t put it on your roof? Community solar may be the option for you.

The environmental benefit of solar energy

Solar energy creates clean, renewable power from the sun and benefits the environment. Alternatives to fossil fuels reduce carbon footprint at home and abroad, reducing greenhouse gases around the globe. Solar is known to have a favorable impact on the environment.

Most of the electricity generated in the U.S. comes from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. Extracting and using fossil fuels is expensive and harmful to the environment. By contrast, solar energy is free and readily abundant – if we could capture all of the sun’s energy shining on the Earth for just one hour, we could power the entire world for one year!

By investing in solar energy, you can help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels in favor of one of the most abundant, consistent sources of energy we have available: our sun.

Solar energy decreases greenhouse gas emissions

Generating electricity with solar power instead of fossil fuels can dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2). Greenhouse gases, which are produced when fossil
fuels are burned, lead to rising global temperatures and climate change. Climate change already contributes to serious environmental and public health issues in the Northeast, including extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and ecosystem changes.

By going solar, you can reduce demand for fossil fuels, limit greenhouse gas emissions, and shrink your carbon footprint. One home installing a solar energy system can have a measurable effect on the environment. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average home with solar panels in Connecticut uses 8,756 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year. Switching from fossil fuels to solar power in the state has the same emissions reduction effect as planting 155 trees every year.

In New York, the average home uses 7,092 kWh of electricity annually. Choosing a clean source of electricity like solar panels can eliminate the same amount of carbon emissions that would result from burning 5,253 pounds of coal each year.

Solar energy reduces respiratory and cardio health issues

One of the biggest benefits of solar energy is that it results in very few air pollutants. An analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that widespread solar adoption would significantly reduce nitrous oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter emissions, all of which can cause health problems. NREL found that, among other health benefits, solar power results in fewer cases of chronic bronchitis, respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and lost workdays related to health issues.

The benefits of solar energy are clear. Not only can you save money on your electric bills – you can also reduce your carbon footprint and improve the health of those around you.

Solar Power Is Burning Bright. But It’s Hardly Twilight for Fossil Fuels.

Solar panels are everywhere: perched on thatched roofs in rural Kenya, helping Indian farmers pump groundwater for their fields, and powering United States military bases.

Solar power accounted for more than a third of all electricity generated from energy sources that came online in 2017, a larger share than any other new source, the United Nations Environment Program said in a report issued Thursday. Solar power is becoming much more affordable. The cost of electricity from large-scale solar projects has dropped by 72 percent since 2009, according to the study.

Even as solar, along with its renewable energy cousins — like wind, biomass and geothermal power — expands, it still accounts for barely 12 percent of all the electricity that the world consumes. The greatest share still comes from fossil fuels like coal, and more coal-fired power plants continue to be built, contributing to the greenhouse gas emissions that have warmed the planet to dangerous levels.

“This shows where we are heading,” said Nils Stieglitz, a professor at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, which produced the report along with Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “The fact that renewables altogether are still far from providing the majority of electricity means that we still have a long way to go.”

The world leader in investing in renewable’s, by far, is China. The country accounted for nearly half of all renewable energy investments worldwide, pumping $86.5 billion into solar energy alone in 2017 in what the report described as “an extraordinary solar boom.”

China has cut back significantly on coal at home, though it has continued to fund and build coal-fired power plants abroad. One of the most closely watched is a proposed plant on the coast of Kenya, near the ancient island town of Lamu, a Unesco world heritage site.

The United States also plays a leading role in developing solar power. It is historically the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, though, and its investments in renewables went down slightly in 2017, according to the report, to $40.5 billion.

That decline coincides with President Trump’s first year in office, a steady rollback in environmental protections and the announced pullout of the United States from the Paris climate agreement. Few countries are even close to meeting the targets they set under the Paris agreement, according to independent analyses.

European investment in renewable’s fell in 2017, according to the report, in large part, its authors said, because of Britain, which has moved to end subsidies for wind and solar projects.

That pointed to a looming challenge for the renewable’s industry: whether it can grow without government subsidies. “Many projects will have to sink or swim without any government-backed price support,” the report said.

Renewable’s grew most significantly in 2017 where the demand for electricity also grew. The report found that developing economies accounted for 63 percent of global investment in renewable energy in 2017, up from 54 percent the year before. All told, 157 gigawatts of renewable power came online in 2017, more than double the 70 gigawatts generated from new fossil fuel sources.

The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, has called climate change the biggest threat to humanity.

Solar technology for farming and urban gardening

Solar-powered devices aren’t just for the off-grid adventurers and power-hungry gadget-loving crowd, they’re also quite useful in the farm and urban garden, as they can provide the juice needed to fulfill many basic functions for the small grower and farmer alike.

Alternative energy has a long history on farms and ranches, beginning with windmills for water pumping and wind generators for electricity for remote locations. More recently, you’d also be more likely to see a small solar charger powering an electric fence than a PV array on a residential street. And with the advances in both solar technology as well as remote automation, using the power of the sun to run parts of a farm or garden operation is easier than ever.

Solar Power Production

Using an array of PV panels (or a single one) and a battery bank, solar power can be used in a very conventional manner on a farm, as a remote power source for any electrical needs. This type of installation isn’t for those with a small budget (although a tiny system for select power needs can be affordable), but it has the advantage of being able to power a variety of things, with the only limitations being the size of the array, the capacity of the battery bank, and the extent of the wiring in place to route the electricity.

For the small-scale grower, or as an entry point for solar power, small standalone systems with PV panels, charge controller, and battery bank included, are available either as a package or (for the DIYer) can be built up from the wide variety of components now available.

Producing solar power on a large scale by adding a grid-tied solar farm to a conventional farm, is starting to make good business sense these days, both to offset the operation’s energy use and to earn a steady income from selling power back to the grid.

Solar Livestock Fence Chargers

Farms with livestock need fencing solutions that are dependable, effective, and adaptable, and an electric fence powered by the sun fits the bill, whether for permanent installation or for movable paddocks. Ready-made solar fence chargers are widely available, in varying voltages and capacity, and some of them can power a fence several miles long. For the DIYer, the availability of affordable parts these days makes it fairly simple to piece together a system that is a custom fit for specific sites and needs. Because an electric fence doesn’t need to be nearly as sturdy as a regular fence, portable solar fencing can keep the stock in a specific area for managed grazing and be moved quickly and easily.

Solar Water Pumping

Another fairly traditional use of solar power on the farm is a solar-powered well pump, especially for remote watering of livestock. A very basic setup can be as simple as a small PV array with no battery storage, which pumps water into a watering and storage tank only when the sun is shining. Adding battery storage and a controller to the unit allows for more control and more capacity, especially with wells with slow flow rates that may need to be pumped 24 hours a day.

Using the sun’s energy to pump water from the ground into a reservoir isn’t the only watering application possible, as some farms are using solar-powered irrigation to grow their crops. The most basic system uses drip irrigation attached either directly to the well pump, or to a storage tank that would gravity-feed the water to the rows. For bigger farms, such as those using center-pivot irrigation (which is responsible for those giant green crop circles seen when flying over AG land), solar power is an option, replacing diesel, propane, or grid power as the motive factor in these systems.

Solar Water Heating

Heating water by using the energy of the sun isn’t nearly as high tech as generating electricity is, but it’s just as necessary (and appropriate) in many farms. A solar water heater can provide hot water for washing or cleaning, and in some instances be used to heat the water for a radiant floor system for either people or animals. Indirectly, using water-filled drums or tanks that gain heat from the sun can be used in greenhouses as thermal mass, moderating the temperature and providing warmth when the sun is down.

Solar Air Heater

Using a solar collector to pre-heat air going into outbuildings, greenhouses, animal enclosures, or office or living spaces is another great low tech way to include solar energy at farms or urban gardens. Because the solar collector has no moving parts, and can usually be built with cheap or free components, they are a good fit for the DIYer and tinkerer. By adding them to south-facing windows, the devices will capture some of the energy of the sun as heat and deliver it to the inside of the rooms, without using any power.

Solar Ventilation

Having the proper amount of ventilation for fresh air intake and hot air exhaust is an important element for greenhouses and animal enclosures, and solar energy can be used to power and automate those systems. The simplest versions use the heat of the sun to open a vent, which will then draw warm out via natural convection, but more extensive ventilation systems use an exhaust fan. The fan can be powered directly by the sun (fan runs as long as the sun is shining), or through a thermostat (fan only runs during the day when set temperature is reached), or even as an extension of a larger solar power system. With the explosion in mobile and wireless technology, many of these units can now also be controlled as a remote unit (Arduino or Raspberry Pi projects).

Solar Dehydrators

For the farmer who produces crops that either need to be dried before sale, or can be dried as a value-added product such as converting grapes into raisins or plums into prunes, solar dehydrators can be a great tool. Most of the solar dehydrator designs are completely passive, like the solar air heater is, and because no moving parts are involved and they can be created from common building materials, using the sun to dry food is a cost-effective method. For more control, small solar-powered vents and fans can be added to the dehydrators, so that on hot days, the food inside isn’t burned to a crisp. (And solar ovens are a great way to cook dinner for a bunch of hungry farmers!)

Solar Lighting

The sun can also light up the night, as solar-powered lighting solutions are available for a variety of applications around the farm and garden. From the small solar LED garden lights to larger units for illuminating entries, gates, and outbuildings, solar lighting can be a great fit for not only off-grid and remote locations, but also for the urban gardener and hobby farmer.

Solar Powered Sensors

Gathering data for more optimal growing or watering is a crucial part of a large farm, and advances in remote monitoring devices have now made it possible to determine precipitation and soil moisture, analyze location-specific weather data, and more. Feeding and watering of animals can be monitored by remote solar-powered sensors, as can the reading of their electronic tags for precise tracking of movements.

Solar Powered Vehicles

Powering farm equipment, such as a tractor, from electricity generated from the sun is another great application for solar on farms. Electric vehicles have plenty of torque for power, and because they are efficient and quiet, may find more and more adoption around the farm. While solar tractors aren’t exactly commonplace, there are innovative farmers converting or building their own versions, and small electric vehicles (utility or golf-cart-types) can be charged via a solar panel for a greener fuel.Solar power on the farm and in the garden can provide the electricity or heat needed to run essential parts of the growing operations, and while they may take an initial investment, the return on that investment could keep coming back for years and years.

source: treehugger

An Egg-Shaped Tiny House Built for Off-the-Grid Living

The Ecocapsule includes details designed to boost its efficiency, from a water filtration system to a roof outfitted with solar panels and a wind turbine.

If you’ve ever fantasized about going off the grid, that dream could soon become reality. A new housing alternative designed by architecture studio Nice Architects offers simple living in a self-sustainable and smart mobile microhome. Now, after a decade of prototyping and revising, fully livable units are finally ready to be dispatched to customers, albeit in limited quantities for now.

Christened the Ecocapsule, the tiny house resembles an egg, or a plump, mini version of Anish Kapoor’s “Cloud Gate.” This ovoid shape is eye-catching but actually serves to enhance the unit’s long-term energy independence. Its curved shell, comprised of a fiberglass body with a steel frame, is designed to maximize rain water collection and minimize energy loss. A closer look at its streamlined appearance reveals details designed to boost its efficiency, from a water filtration system to a roof outfitted with solar panels and a wind turbine.

A long bench occupies one side of the single-room space, serving as both sleeping and seating area, and faces a table that can fold down. The rest of the dwelling is devoted to a compact kitchen and bathroom, which has a separating, waterless toilet. Three windows offer light and prevent the room from resembling a fancy cell, and a HVAC unit provides comfortable temperatures. The Ecocapsule is even equipped with a smart home system and sensors, enabling you to monitor and control all systems not only with a control panel but with an app on your smartphone. That, of course, requires you to connect to a data network.

The tiny house has undergone development since 2008, when the Bratislava-based firm first designed its first unit for a competition. Although it did not win an award, strong public interest in the project fueled the team to produce a working unit. Last month, Nice Architects finally unveiled their first finished Ecocapsule in Bratislava. While that one has already been claimed by a customer in Japan (a nation that has long embraced tiny homes), the firm is working to produce and deliver the first series of Ecocapsules. Limited, for now, to 50 pieces, the microhome will cost you € 79,900 plus a € 2,000 deposit, or in US dollars, a total of about $100,258. The team plans to begin mass producing a second series in early 2019, and these are available now for pre-order for interested parties based in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the European Union. It’s likely that this second round of Ecocapsules will cost less as the cost of technologies change over time.

Although the first Ecocapsule was flown by helicopter to the roof of a building where the launch occurred, the capsules are designed for less elaborate transport. You can hook it on to a car or pack it into a standard shipping container to send around the world. While it can be used as a long-term residence, a holiday home, or perhaps a cozy site for a residency, it can also be quickly dispatched as an emergency shelter during disasters.